So when her real estate developer boyfriend offers her a sweet catering gig, she jumps at the chance to cook for his gala and rub elbows with the town’s elite. The problem? That fancy gala is only happening because her best friend’s home was burned down by an arsonist. And the more Bethany learns about her boyfriend’s planned development, the more she suspects that he might have had something to do with it.Determined to uncover the arsonist’s identity, Bethany cooks her way through the gala, listening to the secrets, lies, and gossip swirling around Hosanna Street. But when someone close to her is killed during the party—and the murder weapon is found in her pot of clam chowder—Bethany finds herself in more than a little hot water.---------------------------------------If you like smart culinary mysteries with quirky characters and quaint seaside towns, you’ll love the Death du Jour series that follows Bethany Bradstreet as she builds her career and solves crimes with the help of her friends. Crime Chowder is the first book in the Death du Jour series. This book has clean language and mild suspense with no cliffhangers. It contains depictions of an LGBT relationship.P.S. – There’s a dog in it.

     Family secrets. A murdered mother. An estranged aunt. A diary. A vandalized high school. Holly knows nothing about her biological family living in Missouri. When her aunt invites her to stay with them for two weeks after her mother’s murder, she has mixed feeling but decides to accept the invitation. Once she’s there, she’s determined to find out why her mother chose to live alone and at a distance from her family. What happened, and why won’t her aunt talk about it? Does the diary she finds hold the key? And who’s been vandalizing the high school? Her cousin’s friend has been accused, but is she guilty? Holly has to use her skills solving mysteries both at the high school and in her family.

    A clingy Yorkie. And a dead Maid of Honor. It’s the first wedding Valerie Masters has ever planned and the start of her new business.There’s money flowing in Buckingham Downs, California, a small coastal town largely taken over by the rich, where weddings are a billion-dollar business. Val works tirelessly to make sure this one- the very first that she’s been hired to plan- is perfect, juggling a temperamental florist, a diva cake baker, and a self-obsessed DJ who’s threatened to walk off the job if the Chicken Dance is requested.Not to mention the biggest Bridezilla Val has ever seen, the bride’s “unique” family and snooty Maid of Honor.Starting a new business is hard, and this first wedding is turning out to be more than Val bargained for. Right before the wedding, Val finds the Maid of Honor dead and the expensive, one-of-a-kind wedding dress missing!Now, on top of getting a hitch-filled wedding to go off without a…well…you know, she has no choice but to solve this mystery. No wonder half of all new businesses fail!The stakes couldn’t be higher. This socially influential family has already threatened to ruin Val if any part of the wedding is ruined.But who among this motley cast of characters could be a murderer and a dress thief? And will Val figure it out in time to pull off the perfect wedding? Or will her business crash before it’s even started?White Satin & Murder is a full length cozy mystery novel full of humor, intrigue, and an adorable furry friend named Buttons. It's the first book in the Val Masters Wedding Planner series, which can be read in any order and are best enjoyed together.

    Recently returned from big city life, and in an attempt to reconnect with her roots and restart her life, she takes up the job of school baker at the esteemed Chiswick Park Academy. Further turning her back on her recent past and following her true aspirations as an amateur baker, stars seem to finally align in Ginger’s life.When a mysterious invitation to a bake-off challenge for a new TV reality show comes up, Ginger takes the opportunity to further cement her presence in the small town. She still has a month until her new job starts, so what harm could possibly be done?As the contestants gather at the highly gated Manor, things take a bloody turn, and all of a sudden ten strangers will need to work together to get out of their host’s murdering sight.Can Ginger solve the mystery and save her life in time? Will her natural instincts protect her from the mansion’s death traps?Find out in this page-turning mystery full of wild turns and family secrets that will rock Little Chiswick to the core, and announce the arrival of a new amateur sleuth in town!*If you like quirky characters, witty dialogue, heart-wrenching twists and turns, and lots of mystery, then you’ll love “The Way the Cookie Crumbles”

    The 36-year-old Greek-American proprietor of “Callie's Kitchen,” a meals-from-scratch business in an idyllic small town, has been busy creating a post-divorce life for herself, her young daughter and her Yorkie, Koukla. After a lot of hard work (including staving off her father’s continual advice), she’s got the locals and tourists clamoring for her delicious Mediterranean dishes and Midwest comfort food classics. Recently, she’s started a budding romance with a fellow foodie, the wealthy owner and chef of Crystal Bay’s most popular bistro. However, success is as fleeting as one of Wisconsin’s glorious autumn days. As local businesses begin to shut down due to a slow economy, Callie is struggling not to become another statistic. A contest with a hefty cash prize seems like the perfect chance to fix her financial woes, until a shocking murder threatens not only her livelihood – but her life. When she’s targeted as a prime suspect by an attractive expat British detective, Callie’s situation becomes more delicate than her Greek egg-lemon soup. She’s got to find the killer and fast if she wants to protect her daughter, save her business and stay alive.

    However, when she arrives she finds that it’s awfully hot and humid there and that these Southern folks really like to hug.Her husband’s past on the island includes a creaky old house in the historic district and lots of nosy relatives he’d forgotten to mention. When one of the Mantelle cousins turns up dead, Jewel needs something she’s never really had before — friends. As her lunch bunch puts on their detective caps to get to the bottom of this murder, Jewel discovers that she may get more than she bargained for out of Sophia Island.THE MANATEE DID IT is a clean and cozy beach mystery set in a historic small town. It’ll keep you turning pages well after bedtime and slathering on more sunscreen to get a few more poolside pages in.

    They agree that Retta, their baby sister, will NOT be included, since she tends to take over any organization she's part of. Sweetly but firmly, Retta will tell you what you should do, could do, and will do.The sisters finally get a decent case: finding a man who apparently murdered his wife years ago and has been on the run ever since. As they try to investigate what happened, they're opposed at every turn.

    A professional. A healer. Not a killer. When a client ends up dead on my massage table, I become the number one suspect. I have Means. Motive. Opportunity. But I didn't kill her. The clock is ticking, someone is stalking me, I have to find out who before I end up in jail or worse...dead.

    Katy and the band land their biggest gig yet at the annual Peanut Patch Festival, but things hit a sour note when she stumbles across a body during mic check. When the investigation strikes the wrong chord, Katy is determined to find the real killer before anyone else is forced to join the heavenly choir.Katy Cross is perfectly content to live her life and mind her own business, which is sometimes harder than you'd think in the small town of Skeeterville, where gossip and sweet tea are town staples. But when she finds the body of Jessa Williams, a newcomer to the area with the reputation of a troublemaking flirt, under the Peanut Patch Festival stage, she's compelled to step out of her comfort zone and snoop around.Since a murder has not occurred in their town in over three decades, the local sheriff is more accustomed to catching jaywalkers than killers. His arrest of a local easy-going, hard-working neighbor sets tongues a-wagging. Will Katy's sharp eye, keen wit, and a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time help the sheriff and his bumbling, good-natured deputy catch the real culprit before more lives are lost?This humorous cozy mystery has no graphic gore, bad language or sexual content, but is filled with lots of laughs, intrigue, and heart. Perfect for fans of amateur sleuths and small towns!

    Often, she is simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, and things go downhill quickly. All of the books cross genres of chick lit, mystery, romance, humor, and action, bringing you a fast-paced, easy-breezy read.Working in a weight-loss center by day and a racquetball club by night, Susan Hunter enjoys her life, the sport, and her friends. ... Sunshine Hunter opens with Susan finding out her new boyfriend of three months is married. To escape the drama, she accepts an offer from her best friend to tag along for a week in Florida. Here the mystery begins, and Susan believes she and her friend are being stalked. She also learns of a murder back home in Ohio and soon finds out she's wanted for questioning. The story takes an adventurous turn when she ends up in the Gulf of Mexico. ... Humorous, sometimes ominous, Sunshine Hunter is quirky and fun! Approx. 52,000 words.

    As the wife of retired Navy SEAL, and the adoptive mother of two little hellions, Maggie is constantly looking for ways to improve her family’s financial situation. She accepts a cleaning position for her new neighbors (who redefine the term ‘eccentric’), never imagining she will end up as the sole alibi for a man with a fascination for medieval torture devices when he is brought up on murder charges.While Maggie struggles to prove the man’s innocence, her deadbeat brother arrives, determined to sell Maggie and Neil on his next great scheme and to mooch with a vengeance. If that isn’t bad enough, her in-laws, (the cut-throat corporate attorneys) descend on the house, armed with disapproval and condemnation, for the family’s annual Thanksgiving celebration.As the police investigation intensifies, Maggie searches for the killer among the upper echelon of Hudson, Massachusetts in the only way she can— by scrubbing their thrones.Of the porcelain variety, that is…

    Evan – He’s quite a famous mountaineer who is trying to leave behind a shattered life and an ex-wife that almost ruined him. Chestnut Hall – Evan’s house and garden have a mysterious past that intrigues Jazz and Evan. The discovery of a secret grotto leads them both into situations that they would never have dreamed about… and into unforeseen dangers. Will Evan be able to leave his past behind? What dangers lie within the grotto? Will there be a happy ending for Jazz and Evan?This is an alternate cover edition - ASIN: B075LR3JSV.

    Cramming her Mini Cooper with clothes, cozy mystery books, and her two cats, Snap and Sammy, Liz drives cross country to her family's Bed and Breakfast in Mystic Grove, Wisconsin. Liz has many secrets connected to her work at Worldhead that she can't share with anyone. All she wants now is time to think and a little peace and quiet. However, she also needs a paying job. Soon Liz is working in town as an intern for Sam Nolan Private Investigations. When a longtime Mystic Grove resident is murdered, fear cuts through the village. Liz is shocked when she learns that her divorced mother's boyfriend, Ben, is a key suspect in the murder. When her mother calls to hire Liz and Sam to clear Ben's name, Liz hesitates. Her demanding mother has never asked for her help before. Liz and Sam take the case. They chase down leads, following the evidence as it twists and turns through Mystic Grove and beyond. With all of the lies and deception they find, Liz realizes that Mystic Grove isn't the innocent village she remembered. More threatening events convince Liz that the killer is still in Mystic Grove. Can Liz find the killer before he strikes again?

    At fifty, Betty is unemployed, divorced and penniless, but with her stunningly beautiful niece Lori, she opens Take A Chance Tours, a Chicago-based company specializing in gaming destinations. Betty quickly becomes close friends with Tillie, the perky, effervescent bus driver who happens to be an ex-con. As soon as the tour bus arrives at Moose Lake Bay Resort and Casino in northern Minnesota, Betty and her driver Tillie, discover a dead body in the locked bathroom of their motor coach. The 350-pound corpse is riddled with stab wounds. With Tillie and Lori's help, Betty puts her amateur sleuth ability to work and searches for the killer.

    In the last twenty-four hours, her boyfriend has broken up with her and her long-running police procedural TV show has been canceled. When a homicide detective shows up at her door the next morning with news that her ex-boyfriend has been murdered, she realizes that her troubles are just beginning. She is shocked--not only to learn of her ex's death, but also to find out that the police consider her to be a suspect in the killing. Hope soon realizes that the only way to clear her name is by finding the real killer herself. Fans of page-turning cozy mysteries will love this series that mixes a healthy dose of clues, romance, and humor. Books In The Hope Hadley Series 1. Fame Is A Killer 2. Fishing For A Murderer 3. Murder Of A Yoga Instructor 4. Drowning In Deceit 5. A Not So Merry Christmas Murder 6. Killer Injustice 7. Murder Of A Restaurant Critic 8. Murder Of A Movie Producer 9. The Killer Holiday Office Party Note -- All of the Hope Hadley books can be read in any order.